Vengeance Paid
by Cooper Writer Crafter
Summary: We all have a price to pay and sometimes it is of the highest cost Death Note X Jigoku Shoujo Rewritten.
1. Depths and Echoes in melodic pretenses

"_The __**vengeance**__ is paid and __**justice**__ will be served__**"**_

(Death Note X Jigoku Shoujo)

**Author's Notes: **_I weaved the plots together to form a coherent storyline that differs from the original one. Death Note timeline is set after L's demise and is now focused on the current rivalry between Light Yagami and Near. Jigoku Shoujo gets involved and connected with Kira and additional original characters are thrown in to make the story more believable and effective with a concrete and stable plot. Review if pleased._

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**1**: **Depths and Echoes in Melodic Pretenses**

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The winds in the cottage where I live in were warm with a delightful scent and crisp that fills the air. My long dark hair moved with the wavelength of the winds restlessly and with amber eyes looking at the scenario that unfolds before me, I tried to contemplate all the things that happened to me for the last four centuries. I didn't sleep just as usual and the bitter aftertaste of my favorite cherries often causes my dismay. And now even as I stare across the orange sky, I begin to wonder why night never comes. My thoughts are randomly scattered like pollens, resting in one place then flying to another.

I bothered not with wishful thinking anymore. I was accustomed and was too exhausted to protest. I carefully removed my clothes and put on my white kimono. I dipped myself, my whole body calm in the cold, wide water. I closed my eyes for another moment or so and then heard my grandmother's voice from the cottage.

"Ai," she said in her usual cheerful tone. "You have an e-mail."

I sighed. There is always a sadness that never vanishes, a grief, they said, that can't be spoken.

The cottage was an old-fashioned Japanese structure. The doors are sliding and the floor is made of wood, like four centuries ago and my heart, no longer whole, still breaks from the lost memory I keep safely. My room, if you will call it that, is a wide vacant space and only the computer in the far corner, gathering dust, is the only thing there is. Beside the computer are three straw dolls.

I went inside the cottage and looked at the computer screen. The monitor was blinking with a red background. The sign of my contract appeared before me. I sighed again.

I took the three dolls. I whispered their names and they transformed into their human forms. The first one is Wanyuundo, an old man who served me for two centuries, Ichimokou Ren, the youngest, who served me for ninety-five years and then there was then Hone Ona, a geisha woman who was around me for forty-five years. They smiled and greeted me. I nodded and we went passed the formalities. I looked back at the monitor, touched it and there I was again.

The places where people would constantly summon me are always in their own rooms. Each room is different like each individual who calls for my services is different. But the atmosphere is the same; there is stillness, a sad silence, an anger that's dying to break out. The people who call for me desire only one thing and for four hundred years I've been fulfilling it dutifully without any complaints.

The person before me was young but aren't they all? When I look at them, it was the same misery spread before me and it would take time for them to realize how hatred can turn them into ashes and when the time does come, it would be too late to go back. But I have warned them. And the choice is always up to them. As time passes from each blooming of the flowers, I think about them and the candles where their names are written. I watched silently when the wax vaporizes and incinerates in the cold, hard wood beneath it.

"I am Enma Ai," I told him.

He was surprised, relieved, and hesitant just like they all are. The faces start to blur if you meet them all the time.

"This is for you," I offered him Wanyuundo as the straw doll. "If you truly wish to eliminate the person tormenting you, you must untie the string. If you pull the string, you will enter into an official contract with me. And the person you seek to take revenge on will immediately be taken to hell."

He took it from me and stared. I know what is going on in his mind.

"However if I do deliver your vengeance, you must, in return, make an equal payment to me."

He looked up, bewildered. How come they never knew the consequences? How come they never knew that in order to gain, there must be a price? He was lucky that I've warned him. I wasn't warned four hundred years ago and so I carry the symbol of my sins until now.

"When one person is cursed, two graves are dug," I continued in the same impassive tone. "And when your body dies, your soul will go to hell. You will wander forever. Your soul will undergo eternal pain and suffering. You will never know what paradise is like."

The change in his manner and expression didn't surprise me. I just looked at him and went away when I've accomplished explaining the conditions. I whispered to him in the solace of the night.

"And now it's up to you to decide what happens next..."

My duty is not yet done. I have to go back to the cottage and wait for him to make up his mind to know if I will grant his request or not.

"Ai, don't be sad," my grandmother called out, "Things will not always work out in your best interest."

"Yes." I answered.

Hone Ona sat beside me. Ren stood behind us and in silence we could only watch the orange sky. I picked up a cherry from the bowl and looked at it.

"Do you want us to watch him for a while?" It was Ren who has spoken.

"Okami-sama?" Hone Ona added.

I nodded and asked them to go. As soon as they left, I placed the cherry inside my mouth. The taste was usual as always but in the randomness of my four hundred-year old sentence, I consider it as my only paradise.

**XXXXXXXXX**

He clicked several times now.

Nothing.

There was that desperation, the nagging urge to kill somebody. He was losing his mind. But he'll have my way no matter what lengths have to be expanded in order to get what must be for him. He clicked again. And again. And again. He cussed under his breath and was sure to explode. _Fuck it_. He definitely feels like needing a drink.

He pushed himself away from the desk and stood up. He picked a glass of water from the corner and gulped the contents hard. He glanced slightly at the webpage. He was weary and the stupid hyperlink is giving him the hard time. He tried to relax, to control himself. He knew that what he was doing was probably one of the dumbest things anybody could do. But who said that nobody has ever tried what he was doing right now? He wasn't the only one who believed this rumor that he knows for a fact. He was angry though of why he was dumb enough to fall for it. There is no such a thing as the **Hell Correspondence**. There is no webpage that can send people to hell. What was he thinking?

As he was about to cancel the webpage, the screen blinked and the whole page went dark. His jaw dropped open and his hand didn't move from the mouse. He was clutching it so hard that his veins might break. Then an eerie silence followed, like from one of those scenarios that happen when you know bad things are going to come. His eyes are watery now, scared to his wits.

He let go of the mouse and took a step back. He couldn't believe what is unfolding in front of him. There it was. The webpage was no longer an error anymore. Trembling with anxiety, he stared.

The words stood clear and seductive, _**"We will take revenge on your behalf."**_

He was half-scared now. The rest of the half is relief, an intoxicating relief. Finally. All he could do now to make it go away, this pain, is make sure the person responsible for it will go to hell. And with enough strength left, he managed to walk back to the desk and rest his fingers above the right keys on the keyboard. He typed a name. He felt like selling this person into something horrible and it felt good. And the best part of it is it's attainable.

He laughed loud as he clicked the submit button and watched as the hourglass of the mouse pointer span around.

Nothing. What's taking it so long?

There was another minute that passed and then another one. Geez, where does he have to complain so they could improve their customer service?

A voice almost made him jump from his place.

"You have called for me?"

He shrieked and bumped into a table on his left. The glass of water fell and broke into pieces. He cringed and took a step back to avoid stepping on it.

_Darn it. Who the hell did—?_

He brought his eyes up and saw her. She stood still, not saying a single word. She stared at his face and he stared back.

"You have called for me?" she repeated.

He gave her the flat eyes. "It depends on who you are."

She looked mildly astonished of his hostile behavior. "I am Enma Ai, the hell girl—"

"I've been told. I just didn't realize you would be late."

She said nothing.

"They said you grant revenge requests and you have lived immortality doing that," he suddenly implored quietly. "I don't know much about the whole thing that you do but I like to join the circle so—"

She cut him off when she said, "This is for you, Otaru."

She knows his name. Swallowing hard, he reached out to take what seems to look like a doll with a red string tied around it. _Ooookay…_

"If you truly wish to eliminate the person tormenting you, you must untie the string. If you pull the string, you will enter into an official contract with me and the person you seek to take revenge on will immediately be taken to hell."

He was told. It was so terrifying how the narrative matches with what is happening now. He was right about the webpage and how the pretty hell girl visits you, offers you revenge and ask you for payment and you have no choice but to take it.

"I don't want to sound impolite, Ai-chan." He smiled weakly. "I think this is the part that you will tell me that I have to sell my soul to send the person I hate to hell, right?"

He watched her reaction. Her lips tightened.

"But I don't want to spoil your monologue so go on—"

"I've been told about the _circle_," she replied to him coldly. Her voice sent chills that filled the room. He felt like taking a blanket to himself from those eyes.

"I must warn you though," she continued to speak, the light from the monitor dancing off her dead eyes. "I do not mind the circle and the people part of it. You call me and summon me to take the vengeance paid and I have come here with the intentions of executing it. You know the conditions so it is up to you to decide what happens next."

He swore he saw a hint of smile in her lips. She added. "Go and do what you want with your life but keep in mind that time is short and its curtains will be the judge."

She said no more and disappeared.

He remained holding the doll. A smile spread across his face and he couldn't wipe it off.

Somewhere out in the dark rivers of the world, a man named Yamanagi Akira smiled the same smile.

**XXXXXXXXX**

**  
**

Two requests in one night were enough to give me a stressful, surreal blur. I didn't take the immediate transportation back to the other world. I decided to walk the busy streets of Kanto, Japan. The bright lights were circling me like vultures and I felt compelled to look down as I passed through people in front of me. I was non-existent to the world of the flesh but I came to the terms that my mortal absence is practical although somewhat lonely. To be alive and not be seen is a painful circumstance. There is an advantage to it and I dwell on that often. And wasn't I dead for a long time being now? I feel drained as I have been dry for the last lifetime that I've lived. Sensations and time don't affect me like they used to. All in all the art of detachment has been perfected. When I walked passed a store where a big flat screen television was on, I glanced slightly. As the words registered, I stopped abruptly in my tracks. A young woman, maybe in her twenties, was speaking about _Kira_.

I debated on smiling or frowning. When neither of those reactions followed by the tight muscles in my mouth, I just stared blankly. I took a long glance at the young woman's face. I could look at a face and see their names. This one is named Takada Kiyomi. This quality of being able to tell names is one of the many job requirements I have as a Hell Girl. I wasn't the only creature who could do this. Shinigamis could do the same thing too. When the thought passed my mind I was finally able to smirk a little. How long has it been since this special event took place? Oh, that's right. One of my close Shinigami friends dropped his death note and when I felt the human presence overtaking it, I felt an unpleasant sensation that I ignored for some time now. I went to work each night time and have been hearing of the progress of this unusual event when I pass the streets. The human owner of the death note is making an accomplished career of being some kind of a grim reaper named Kira. It was a fascinating line of work, indeed, considering the ignorance in this young mortal's part. I wasn't in the position to judge. I haven't given myself to self-righteous acts.

It's hard to determine real evil but it had been staring at my face for so many ages. I've seen cruelty, malice and violence in their purest forms. I've learned that evil was never accurate and so is goodness. There are always lines drawn and lines crossed and whichever lies between is where I have placed myself. I was now an uninterested observant of situations. I do understand Kira's goals. Human beings are self-destructive. They hold onto grudges and destroy each other. They are made that way. You can hardly reason out a rational blame on their actions.

As I looked off in a distance to acknowledge the world as a whole, I saw the monotone existence of human activity. How fascinating the certain change managed to penetrate this, the change being the existence of Kira. During the first two weeks, I have passed by stores selling newspapers depicting Kira as a justice crusader or another mass murderer. I was astounded on how long the young mortal managed to possess the death note and made use of it for personal gain. Yes, his goals are set for the better good, I have heard. Man is however a selfish being driven by greed so in factual terms, there is a personal gain from all of these. I know that my occupation as a Hell Girl has an equal award when I've completed it.

I was busy observing in the corner when I suddenly received an energy that is only common to a creature I have co-existed with. I didn't bulge or give any apparent reaction when I felt the force. I waited patiently.

"I knew it was you." The voice was husky and high-pitched.

I turned my head to look up at him and then looked off to stare straight ahead. "Good evening, Ryuk-san."

I heard the distinguishable chuckle from his part. Then he spoke again. "Noisy world this is."

I said nothing. He went on, "You familiar with my new thing now, Ai-san?"

"Yes, your new thing." I could not suppress the amusement is my tone.

"I'm everywhere these days." Ryuk remarked. "I meet a bunch of fantastic humans along the way."

"I believe you are currently with a man named Mikami Teru, are you not, Ryuk-san?" I decided to engage in this conversation.

"Hai, Ai-san, you are well-informed."

"I have internet access," I gave him a small, almost invisible smile. "If you know what I mean by that."

He laughed his strange laugh with an effect of throwing back his head. Then he stared at me with those bright yellow eyes and grinned with those sharp teeth of his. "How about you, same-old, same-old?"

"Yes, Ryuk-san, same-old, same-old." I was already feeling rather bored.

"You look younger everyday, Ai-san, something to be thankful about, right?"

I didn't answer that and replied instead. "Yagami Raito was generous to pleasure you in many ways, wasn't he, Ryuk-san?"

"You make it sound dirty."

"I was not implying anything."

Ryuk feigned a confused sigh and then answered. "A Shinigami is a complicated creature, Ai-san. I am a complicated Shinigami. I guess I am also a Shinigami who wants to have fun."

"You have a fair share of that now." I rubbed my hands together to increase some friction in my palms although the change of temperature, whether hot or cold, doesn't bother me. I hardly feel.

"Hey, I'm still working, you know!" Ryuk said rather defensively.

I gave him a curious look, "As opposed to what I am doing which is a hobby?"

"Oi, Ai-san!" he called out when I started to cross the other side of the street. He spread his wings and flapped them in a slow pace as he followed behind me. "Ai-san, you're not mad are you?"

"You say the strangest things, Ryuk-san." I said as I kept walking. "I was just in a hurry to go to another customer. I received a message."

I raised my cell phone to let him look at the screen. The blaring red symbol was persistent and a phrase "_you have one request pending_" appeared.

Ryuk chuckled hoarsely. "There used to be a time when you used mailboxes. Guess you have to modernize yourself to keep the business going, eh, Ai-san?"

"A Hel Girl has to do what she has to do." I nodded to that.

"Cool, can I come with?" Ryuk asked.

"Weren't you supposed to be working as well?" I stopped to gaze up at him. Several people walked by and passed through our bodies. "I think you're doing a marvelous job with this whole Kira thing, Ryuk-san. Really, we should part ways now."

"You could always come by here, Ai-san." Ryuk must have smiled at me. It's hard to tell especially when his teeth were so long it gave his face a grinning expression all the time. I did return a courteous smile. The cell phone rang again and I flipped it open. I pressed the keys to reply back.

"What are you texting?"

When I was done, I sent it then I showed it to Ryuk. The message contained. "_I am Enma Ai. I will come for you now_."

Ryuk pointed at my cell phone. "I should really get one of these. Instant messaging is advantageous these days."

"Ryuk-san, you don't need to have a common trend in order to be noticeable." I said rather good-humoredly. "Believe me, this hardly increases that."

To give a concrete example of that, another group of people passed through us again. Seeing that, Ryuk laughed again in the way he only could and I managed to let out a genuine yet small smile.

"I will see you when I see you, Ai-san." Ryuk remarked.

"Perhaps you could visit me some time if we are available." I suggested.

"Hai, Ai-san, that would be nice." He winked at me visibly. "Good night, Ai-san."

I bowed my head and muttered. "Good night, Ryuk-san."

He flapped his wings faster now to adjust to the wind then he zoomed up loudly to the dark evening skies. I watched him disappear before I went away.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Incapacitated by an unknown cold rush of tension, I found myself lying face flat on the hard wood of our cottage. The sky is as always bright neon orange and the stillness of the whole place provides sinister thoughts more than comforting ones. I sighed for more than once or twice now, running my fingers through my hair several moments of despair and a half. I was really exhausted. My grandmother fixed me some tea and called Hone Ona to pick me some cherries. I sipped the tea quietly and watched Wanyuundo outside, cultivating the flowers with his rare gift. When our eyes met, he smiled at me. I regarded him with silent pleasantry and began to ponder of the days ahead.

I narrowed my eyes when I met the sunset's blazing gaze. I looked down at my lap and contemplated some more. I didn't like the things that happened lately. After my usual routine and work, I expected everything to be the same as yesterday and the day before that or the century before. But as some may not know, the youngest of my servants, Ichimokou Ren, is spending too much time in the human world. He has no business for his business is with mine but I doubt that I should give him the privilege to form his own life outside our alliance.

I am not selfish but I care about what happens to the people who lived with me for a long time and I do not know how to tell Ren. I bothered not with getting along, advising, getting in touch with people unless it is really necessary. My quiet and cold assurance to my customer is enough for me. But once in awhile I would like my three servants to realize that I somehow look at them with highest value. They were my only companions.

I am not sure if Ren would get the hints that I am casually dropping him. I don't want to make him feel degraded or offended in any way but I wish that he would tell me what he was doing in the human world. I am too proud to ask for any of Wanyuundo and Hone Ona's advices because it gives me the feeling that I am shedding the skin I have become accustomed with.

There is one thing that bothers me. It is not that much of importance but it still does deserve a thought. I closed my eyes and kept that thought there for awhile.

The thought about the _circle_...


	2. People are HURT for reasons unknown

**Author's Notes: **_Japanese honorifics are present in dialogues and names are written in the original form of surnames coming first. A series of POVs are granted and original characters are explored next to the canon ones. Active participation of the main characters is deliberately taken to the next level and compromising situations and unusual pairings will be revealed after more chapters. Review once again if interested._

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**2: ****People are hurt for reasons unknown**

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When Yamanagi Akira listened to the last and most final breaths of his dying wife Mizuki, he thought about death and how he wanted to cheat it and how he wished to inflict it on others. He thought more about this, as Mizuki's gentle eyes looked into his own. She knew how distant he became but she doesn't have the strength to stop it. She can only watch as the man she thought she knew is going all the way down to despair. There is something more to it too. She tightened her grip on his feeble, unresponsive hand. His eyes remained on her but he was unfeeling. He wanted something he couldn't not put a name on .He wanted it so bad he was afraid that it might burst here in his wife's deathbed.

"Forgive them, Akira." Mizuki whispered, pleading relentlessly. "Set it free. You cannot hold on to it that long."

Akira's lower lip quivered. He doesn't want to see her like this. He doesn't want to be part of the suffering she has to go through. Just hearing the heaving of her chest, just feeling the coldness in her hand and seeing that look on her eyes makes him want to shoot himself. He wanted to die. He wanted it but not as much as he wanted to inflict the rightful death those men deserved.

"Akira…" Mizuki can hardly speak. She blinked the tears away, reaching out to her husband as long as she could.

"They will pay, I tell you that." Akira's hand tightened against his wife's, almost crushing bones. "They will suffer like you did. They will suffer like Kasumi."

His wife tried to protest but he put his lips against hers. He closed his eyes angrily and shoved the aggravating emotion down his throat. He will hold on to it, however and will spit it out like nausea when the time comes.

Mizuki died three minutes after. Akira quickly went out while the nurses gathered around his wife's bed. He didn't say a single word to the relatives who tried to talk to him when he passed them. His mother-in-law tried to catch up but saw that it was pointless so she finally stood there, staring helplessly as he left.

Mizuki is gone. Kasumi is gone. Life is bound to be worse than hell.

Akira sat on the nearest pavement and sobbed violently. He screamed and punched anything he could put his fist on. He was a lost man, a lost man with a final resort.

He walked briskly to his car and opened the trunk. He reached out to grab his laptop and slammed the trunk's hood angrily. He put his laptop above the car's trunk and took a few moments to breathe. When he gathered all that he needs to do what must me done, he turned on his laptop and clicked the Internet Explorer.

He clicked on the website. He looked at his watch. He drummed his fingers impatiently, wiping the sweat on his forehead here and then. After what seemed like forever, the webpage turned dark. The screen went eerie. The words that offer another chance to make it easier appeared to him just as they have showed themselves to anybody who wished to pay the highest cost.

_**We will take revenge on your behalf.**_

Akira licked his lips in excitement. His blood felt hot as his fingers typed the name of the very man responsible for Kasumi's demise: _Kouji Sautome_.

He wanted that man to die. And tonight this would be granted.

As he turned around, he saw her looking at him with those blood red eyes. He knew right then he was heard.

When Akira Yamanagi listened to the last and most final breaths of his dying wife Mizuki, he thought about death and how he wanted to cheat it and how he wished to inflict it on others. Now as he pulled the red string, his vengeance was paid and his life as the founder of the _Jigoku_ _Circle_ has just began.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"It is a foremost fact that as human beings, we want to hurt each other."

Kusonagi Otaru listened to Yamanagi Akira as he delivered his speech. There is not only attentiveness in his part but also faith whenever he listens to Akira. He admired the man, treated him like a father. Otaru wanted to do the things Akira does and the first step into achieving that is joining the circle.

Akira glanced at Otaru and smiled. He continued speaking, "People have hands that seek to destroy you. They have cunning minds and immoral motives. They will do anything they can to kill you day by day. These people, whether acquaintances, a friend, a long-time enemy, a relative, a business associate or worse, a stranger, will hurt you. They will break you. But if you stop them and make sure they die because of what they did to you then you are welcome to the circle."

The audience is composed of Otaru and three other people. The first one is a man the same age as Otaru who is nervous-looking judging by the fact that he fidgets a lot. The one beside him is a high school girl with a serene face and the other one is a middle-aged woman smoking haughtily. Otaru wondered what their stories are and since he doesn't judge by looks, he knew that all of them have interesting experiences to share.

Akira went on, "As you know before we start this meeting, I met with all of you privately and I told you the reason why I founded this organization. My daughter Kasumi was brutally assaulted by four men on her way from the Laundromat to pick up her graduation robe. Her mother was devastated and had her most fatal strokes and soon died two days after Kasumi. I was left alone and I was bitter. I found one thing that relieved all of it--" he paused and frowned a little. "Most of it, that is. It is the only thing that connects us all. It spoke to us and formed us to become fully aware of our own mortality."

Otaru nodded in agreement. The nervous guy gulped and averted his gaze down the floor. The high school girl remained indifferent. The woman blew a large chain of smoke and sighed pensively.

Akira stared at them with a thoughtful face and then he said, "We are marked by her symbol. At the time when our lives are nearing the edge, we will see her again."

The silence was deafening. Otaru shifted on his seat. The high school girl looked at him so did the woman with the cigarette.

"Otaru," Akira called out. "You are the newest member of our small group. We would like to accommodate you as much as possible. Hence we will have to introduce ourselves to you and tell the reason why we summoned the Hell Girl."

_This is it_, Otaru thought to himself. He looked at his three companions and waited.

The nervous guy definitely didn't want to draw any attention. He looked down at the floor as steadily as he could. The middle-aged woman giggled at him and crushed the cigarette against her shoe.

"I will go first." The high school girl implored. Akira nodded for her to go on.

"My name is Yamato Midori," she closed her eyes for awhile and then opened them again. "I summoned the Hell Girl to take revenge against my best friend..."

**XXXXXXXXX**

I refused to do what she insisted but my best friend Umi kept forcing me over and over again. I told her that what we are about to do was wrong but we couldn't help ourselves. It started out with cheap items like a lip-gloss and a bottle of lotion but I was pretty scared because I didn't really enjoy doing it. But Umi liked the feeling, the thrill of it. She was a kleptomaniac.

We swore to keep it between us. We even have an abandoned house as our hiding place. We started stealing when we were twelve and then Umi got ambitious. When we were fourteen, she stole a pair of gold earrings from a pawnshop across the street. I wad mad at her because she told me that if she goes down for it then she will take me with her although I have nothing to do with it. The worst part is that nobody ever thought she was capable of it. They all think she was a good girl but I knew she was no saint.

Umi has this pleasant effect on people. I think that's why nobody got suspicious. One day after our ballet class, Umi invited me to hitchhike with her.

"Why would we do that?" I asked her anxiously. "We both need to be at home by six. And we live a few blocks away."

She only laughed at me and said. '"You will see."

I don't have a good feeling about it but I was a little afraid of her. I guess I was a coward for not standing up for myself but I still treat her as my friend and I thought that it's enough reason to stick around and tolerate her. Maybe this is just a phase and she will outgrow it in time. Too bad I didn't realize soon that I was wrong.

"Where to, baby?" the driver winked at the two of us. His friend on the passenger seat did the same swooning. I was repulsed of what we are doing but I have no idea what Umi wanted to accomplish this time. She dragged me to enter the car. I wanted to cry and call for help but the look on Umi's eyes shut me up. I know that she has something in mind. I wasn't interested on finding out what it is.

As we were driving on the road smoothly, the car came to a sudden stop. The two guys went out and took us out of the vehicle. I was trembling all over. The guy holding me by the wrists pushed me to the ground. And that's when I heard a shot.

My attacker turned around to see that Umi shot his friend. He panicked and run. Umi aimed at him and I tried to jump at her and reach for the gun. She pushed me away and then shot the other guy at last. I think I started crying and fainted.

When I opened my eyes, Umi was waving paper bills in front of me. I was so stunned, I shouted at her. "Are you out of your mind? You killed and robbed those guys! You're a monster."

She didn't like that comment. She took the gun and pointed it at me. She threatened to kill me if I tell anybody. She also said that if it weren't for her, those guys would have raped us. I reasoned out that she was the one who got us in this mess in the first place. She lashed out at and slapped me.

"I am going to kill you if you talk to anybody about this." Umi said.

I let a few days passed after the incident. I can't act normally. My conscience has been eating me. I got sick and have to stay home. I was worried all of a sudden of what would happen if this keeps going on. If Umi and I remained friends, what kind of future would I have? Would she continue pushing me around and ask me to cover for her? I was so angry and hurt and betrayed. I wanted it to stop.

And then it occurred to me that Umi was no longer the best friend I have loved and cherished. She was a savage beast.

I heard about the hotline to hell. I wasn't sure if it exists but at that time I have no other options so I started looking for it on the net. When I found the link, I clicked at it. It was exactly midnight. I was horrified of what I have found.

I didn't know why I have to do it. I blamed her for making me do it. There was a time when Umi is just Umi and I would be happy to have her back. I see no other choice but to send her somewhere that can teach her a lesson.

The Hell Girl appeared to me and said all I have to do is to pull the string attached from the doll she gave to me. But she also added that she has to get something in return. She said that when I die, my soul goes to hell. My soul is bought in exchange for Umi's soul. I thought it was preposterous but it's obvious that this isn't the first time she heard that complaint. She said it is all up to me if I want to pull the string.

The moment I woke up the next morning, Umi was there. She said she wanted me to do something for her. I said no more. She wanted to hit me again but I stepped away from her angrily and told her to go to hell. I showed her the doll.

And then I pulled the string.

The next thing I know a mark was seared against my chest: the mark of my perdition.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Otaru watched as Midori unbuttoned her blouse to show the symbol tattooed on her chest. He has it too but looking at it on this angle made it so unfamiliar as if he hasn't seen it before and understood what it meant. The nervous guy fumbled through his own shirt and rubbed his chest. The woman turned away from Midori and lighted another cigarette.

Akira sat among them and reached to hold Midori's hand. After an exchange of comforting words, the nervous guy finally said something.

"Can I tell my story this time?" he has a soft voice and Otaru wondered how can a weak-willed person like him had enough guts to pull the string. He decided to listen to what the guy has to say.

"My name is Yukishiro Ranmaru," he began to speak slowly, weighing each word. "I summoned the Hell Girl to take revenge against my boss…"

**XXXXXXXXX**

I am the type of guy who doesn't like meddling on people's affairs. I like to keep everything private and I expect others to do the same. But as a workingman I find it hard to keep everything to myself especially inside a working office with a lot of people and especially if you have an asshole for a boss.

My boss was a control freak and I hated that son of a bitch. I knew I have the impression of being weak and effeminate but I just don't like associating myself too much. My boss, on the other hand, would find ways to torture and humiliate me. I've endured all of it for two years. I sometimes wonder how I was able to survive it. I thought that if I just stay quiet, it would all go away.

My boss went to the most random kind of humiliation. He would ask me to work late for a project and then the next day I found out that the project was already finished by an officemate. He will laugh at my reaction and rub my embarrassment publicly so everyone in the office will laugh along. And then there was a time when he erased all my documents in my computer and asked me to repeat everything. I wanted to report his abuse of authority but quite frankly I am even more curious to find out the reason why he is picking on me.

Nobody likes my boss. That's why I don't think anybody would get sad if he dies. I wasn't thinking about killing him at all. I was too squeamish for that. But one incident made all the difference. I've kept to myself for two years. But after what he had done to me, I could never possibly forgive him.

It was no ordinary prank, I tell you that. I was working late again that night. I was doing what I always do when my boss walked in. He has this grin plastered on his face when he talked to me. I couldn't help but feel nervous. I knew something was going to go wrong. I already summoned the Hell Girl two days before that and I have the doll inside my pocket in case I need it.

I was not that eager to pull the string. I am reluctant of the conditions. I said to myself that I don't want to go to hell. But what my boss did to me that night, I didn't even give it a second thought when I pulled the string.

When we got to his office, he started shouting at me, telling me how useless I am, and said that he fired me. He also added that I would not get any money from the company. I talked back at him. He didn't like that so he shoved this ashtray to my mouth and said that if I don't go away quietly, something bad is going to happen. He said he doesn't want to see my face again tomorrow.

I went to go to work despite his threat. I was beyond myself. I knew it was foolish but I was curious to know what he'll do to me if I didn't obey him. I guess you could say I challenged him. At that time I thought I have nothing to lose. I was wrong though. While I acted normally in the corner, just typing my files, my boss called for me. I felt myself shaking but I went to his office as bravely as I could. I wanted to tell him I would report his behavior and now is my chance to take the upper hand.

And when I got there, I was shocked of what I saw. My boss was holding a jar that contained my father's remains. I stared at it. My blood went cold. My boss just looked at me maliciously and then he dropped the jar. My father's ashes were scattered on the floor now. I didn't have the impulse or the rationality to figure out how the hell did he got that jar.

I shouted at him, "Why are you doing this? What have I done to you!"

It was an immature act, I must say but I felt tears in my eyes. He violated my father's remains. Like I said, I was a quiet man and I mind my own business. It still wasn't clear to me why he is doing things to hurt me. There must be some reason why he would do something like this.

And you know what he told me? He said to my face, "You're a hopeless jerk. People like you should have no right to work in a place like this. I told you that I will do you harm if you don't leave and yet you stayed. You got some heavy guts to be here."

"But why do you hate me so much?" I asked him angrily.

"I don't hate you," he laughed at that. "I hate him."

He pointed down at my father's remains. My jaw dropped as I watched him spit on it. He added, "I bet Suchiro is devastated to know his little boy is a crybaby."

He laughed loud. I was more than furious. He had been doing this for two years because he wished to get back at my dead father. He wished to humiliate me because he hates my father and I was his son. That was a low and idiotic motive. It was just aggravating. I couldn't believe that was the only reason why this man is making fun of me as he strips me off from my integrity. I can't put up with it anymore.

I didn't want to hurt anybody but this is something I won't ignore. I was silent and tolerant for a long time. As I hear him laughing at such a dumb event, I took the doll from my pocket. Without me realizing it, I pulled the string. I was driven to. I have no idea what possessed me. All I know is that I want him to pay. I want him to die.

Hed he

**XXXXXXXXX**

Ranmaru kept rubbing his chest the whole time he narrated his story. When he finished, he looked at the faces staring at him. He blushed slightly and cleared his throat. Otaru frowned and felt sorry for the guy. He certainly is a weak-willed person.

"It's not your fault," Akira smiled at the young man who fidgeted when he was spoken to, "You're right. We never wanted to hurt anybody but they are the ones who make us do it. Their actions that terrorized us has left us with no choice."

"Revenge is the only answer," the woman blew a ring of smoke from her cigarette. She gave a tight smile at Otaru.

"Do you want to tell them your story, Sayuri?" Akira asked the woman.

Sayuri chuckled and stared at her cigarette. "It's not a good bedtime story for these kids, Akira-kun."

Otaru interjected. "I would like to hear it."

"You never really told us too," Midori added. "Come on, Sayuri. We are all a family here. You can tell us now."

"It's too difficult," Sayuri remarked. "I wasn't proud of what I did. It was not only an act of vengeance and self-interest. It was a crime I couldn't forgive myself."

"Is it that big of a deal?" Otaru asked gently.

Sayuri glanced at him and frowned. "My story should be left untold for now. I am just not ready."

"That's okay," Akira answered. "We're entitled to choose. Well, I guess that ends our meeting for today."

"Otaru hasn't told us about who was the one he sent to hell and why." Midori said.

All eyes looked at Otaru. He didn't look down from their stares. He exhaled comfortably and run his fingers through his brown hair.

"I summoned the Hell Girl to take revenge against my uncle, the man who took care of me since I was nine years old."

"And why did you send him to hell?" Ranmaru implored.

Otaru looked at Akira. They held each other's eyes for a brief moment and then Otaru spoke again.

"It's because he was sleeping with my girlfriend."

**XXXXXXXXX**

_"Delay in vengeance gives a heavier blow..."_

I repeated the words as carefully and as firmly as I could. His empty stare remained vacant. I smiled bitterly. It truly has been a long time. The glances speak of his unresolved questions that he often asked me secretly when we are isolated from the other two. I avoided the argument by not opening my mouth to respond or shifting my eye contact towards nothing. He sensed the danger in pursuing but he is stubborn so he went on and tried to catch my attention all the time if opportunity allows him.

"Ren..."I murmured his name gently. I am out of words so I gave him another adage. _"_**_Life_****_is but a passing dream, but the death that follows is eternal_**."

It wouldn't help him. The conflict will remain shut in that tormented mind of his. He looked at me more fiercely now, suddenly he wants to break into my thoughts, reach out, shake me to my core and I have to admit that denial is not considered here when I say that I am afraid that he might succeed in conquering me. Alas, he stood up and smiled. I held his gaze. I didn't smile back. I have no reason to anyway.

"Okami-sama," he spoke so gently with the formal politeness he knows I demand of him. "I am sorry to cause you disturbance--"

His apology was not yet finished when the monitor of my computer flashed a vibrant red color with the symbol of death. We both glanced at it, both thinking that we are left on another unmistakable and awkward lull. He frowned and I sighed. I called for Wanyuundo and Hone Ona when I walked outside towards the garden.

He stood behind me and I know he has that sad face again. I turned around just in time to catch his memory as it was taking him prisoner once more to a distant shore of misery. I can see he remembered the weight of his sin, the service that I employed him of and even when our gazes remained unanswered by either of us, we didn't look away at all, not until Wanyuundo and Hone Ona came walking towards us.

A single pull is all it takes. Ichimokou Ren knows that **_death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live._**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Mikami Teru sipped his coffee using his other hand while he was holding the newspaper with the other. He was also contemplating on the events that happened yesterday. He was sitting across Takada Kiyomi who was giving him a bothered look. When he felt like he couldn't ignore her anymore, he inquired solemnly. "Is something the matter, Takada-san?"

"Mikami-san, do you know about the Hell Correspondence?"

Mikami arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that not an urban legend? I do not know a journalist of standards such as yourself would be bothered with that trifling issue."

"I suddenly want to access it," Takada looked down at her lap, her beautiful, clear face now confused.

"You don't say, Takada-san." Mikami answered with a tone that he wishes to end this useless conversation. Predicament is hardly likely for this.

Takada pushed through though. "There are speculations about it and I'm curious to confirm the possibility of the Hell Girl's existence. I mean, we have come to terms that—" she lowered her voice, "Shinigamis do exist."

Mikami looked over her from the newspaper he was reading. He adjusted his glasses and then he shook his head. "Don't involve me with that. I have things to be done."

"I'm aware," Takada glared slightly.

"Then you understand I don't want to discuss this topic anymore."

"Suit yourself, Mikami-san." Takada crossed her lovely legs and placed her hands on her lap. She sat quietly with her eyes fixed on Mikami the whole time. After reading two news stories, Mikami still felt her looking so he asked rather lifelessly, his eyes never leaving the page. "What is it now, Takada-san?"

Takada didn't move when she spoke. "Do you think that if I access the webpage to Hell, I could send Amane Misa to where she rightfully belongs?"

Mikami was still reading the newspaper but he allowed a serious smile to spread on his lips. "I don't know, Takada-san. My imagination in that area of expertise is rather conclusive."

"And what expertise is that?"

"Revenge."

"Ah, yes." Takada smiled as well and she rested her elbows on the table, placing together the tips of her elegant fingers. "Revenge is appetizing."

Mikami Teru didn't look up or answer her but he agreed on that silently.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Ryuk heard a little girl laughing boisterously.

He was standing over Mikami Teru and was laughing at the Shinigami comment made by Takada Kiyomi when he heard somebody laughing with him. It was a shrill, high-pitched laugh and even before he glanced to see who it was, he knew it was a little girl. When he finally rested his eyes on the girl, he was surprised to see she was a small creature, maybe only three feet. She wore a floral hat and a blue skirt with white blouse. What draw his attention were those big blue eyes of her and that penetrating smile.

Then she pointed at him, shouting. "Ugly face!"

Ryuk cocked his head onto one side and realized that neither Mikami nor Takada seemed to hear the little girl. They were still having a conversation of their own. Ryuk decided to ask the girl who was standing in front of them, pressing her face against the glass.

"Would you be referring to me?"

The little girl laughed again and started to spin around in her place. Then she turned to look back at him sharply, almost angrily and then she grinned wide. Ryuk didn't understand any of this so he said nothing. The little girl kept laughing as she run off.

The Shinigami was perplexed. He decided to divert his attention back to the two humans below him. They were now discussing about sending Amane Misa to hell. Ryuk pictured that possibility and found it humorous to see Misa in the ferryboat with Ai, screaming to the Hello Girl incredulously. "_Nande? Why should Misa go to hell_?"

It is impossibility too since a death note user could go neither heaven nor hell. That would be just dandy. Ryuk then thought about the little girl again. He had never seen her before but he knew one thing is for sure.

That annoying brat was not human.


	3. Payback is a bitch

**Author's Notes: **_Proceeding instances regarding Mikami Teru and Takada Kiyomi's roles in the story. Discusses some points on Ai's profession and a member of the Jigoku Circle is unveiled. Yagami Raito insights and the characters from the two anime are getting more acquainted. Reviews are most certainly flattering._

**----000----------------------------------------------------000----**

**3: Payback is a bitch**

**----000----------------------------------------------------000----**

The monitor image remained still in front of him as he sat there in his usual place. The earpiece is attached to him and he breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the image change at last and with a single flicker, the shape of the letter "N" disappeared. Yagami Raito couldn't describe how relieve he felt with that. He rested his forehead with his palm with his elbow placed on the surface of the desk, the whole weight of his head pressed against it. He closed his eyes and tried to absorb the new information given to him. N was in his deceptive moods again that Raito found it hard to keep up with. The necessary eliminations were done. It is a game to the death. Raito was fully aware that the stakes are higher than what he had bargained for. Who would have thought that picking up the darn death note would put him in a deadly, compromising position? He managed a chuckle when he thought about everything. It hardly made sense and he was unable to fathom if it was all worth it in the end.

Didn't matter, really. He couldn't lose.

He debated on contacting Mikami Teru. The following careful steps both of them took kept them alive and functioning so Raito knew he couldn't risk it. He decided to wait and manipulate Takada Kiyomi for the time being. Speaking of female accomplices, he glanced back to see that Misa was sleeping serenely on the sofa. He didn't know what to do with her anymore. He doesn't really feel like caring about it all together. He pushed himself of the desk and carried Misa to her bed. As he was doing this, he began thinking about the exhaustion he's babysitting for quite some time. Then his thoughts wandered to places they shouldn't. He placed Misa down the bed and was holding the pillow when he started to get ideas. He looked at Misa and then at the pillow. He could just smother her with it easily especially now that dumb Shinigami Rem would not kill him for it. When he thought about how Rem died, trying to protect Misa, he felt like laughing. Ryuk isn't that attached so what's up with Rem? Then his thoughts entered a new tunnel, the tunnel he had been avoiding for years now.

It was that son of a bitch, Ryuuzaki.

Yet he could not help but remember how Ryuuzaki challenged him. He couldn't just forget the thrill of outsmarting him, the pretenses he had to go through to deceive him and the playful mind game he had found intoxicating when he found Ryuuzaki. Raito suddenly wanted his nemesis back. He wanted Ryuuzaki now to be bugging him about catching Kira. He wanted to torment Ryuuzaki by giving him the wrong leads in catching Kira. He wanted to amuse himself when the sugar addict detective untangles every plan Raito devises. He wanted him to be the only one to see through his cunning plots. Ryuuzaki never disappointed him. No matter how tricky he can get, Ryuuzaki always finds a way to match him.

Raito sighed and put down the pillow, finally fighting the urge to press it on Misa's face as she lay there, oblivious. He knew Ryuuzaki is dead and will never come back. He knew that there would be no excitement as he cleanses this world from evil bastards. Without Ryuuzaki, his crusade is dreadfully meaningless. He wished that he had known his real name too and not just the plain letter, "L."

Raito can't believe he is actually saying this but he misses Ryuuzaki. He misses that son of a bitch ever since he was gone.

Ryuuzaki did leave, however, an equal opponent that goes by another irritating alias, "N." Could the alphabet be more sinister? Raito could only assume.

He lay down beside Misa and stared moodily at the ceiling. Anybody who uses the death note will go neither heaven nor hell? If that is the case, where would he go when he dies? The lull between heaven and hell, Raito mused, has anybody survived there?

Beyond his awareness, a girl from the other side of the world took a small bite on her cherry and before she could decide if she will like the taste, her grandmother called her, "Ai, you have an e-mail."

And that girl was Enma Ai, the most popular prisoner of the lull.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Why are we here again?" Mikami Teru asked his so-called colleague Takada Kiyomi for the fourth time. Takada sat across him, smiling sweetly at his moody responses to her playful cooing. She put a hand on his knee. Mikami didn't have the energy to jerk it off.

"Relax," she said with another smile. "You're going to like what I have found."

Mikami raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? I am not easily pleased."

Takada raised her hand to his thigh. Her touch was unwelcome so his body wasn't sure how to respond to it. This was the first time Takada made a physical contact with him. He seemed to wish he was mentally absent while it was going on. Takada is an attractive woman but both of them knew that it didn't matter to both of them what physical attraction they have once in a while when they're together. He was also a fairly handsome young man but Takada is devoted to Kira and he is also devoted to the same man, just not in a romantic way like Takada. So this is a surprise, Takada teasing him like this.

"Just get to your darn point," Mikami sounded rather angry than what he intended to be. He was just not prepared for it and Takada seemed to get that and was only testing his reaction. Mikami finally took her hand off his thigh and scoffed a little.

"Be patient," she remarked. "I found you a very interesting criminal."

"Oh?" Mikami mused, still feeling rather annoyed with her recent action.

She nodded, seeing that she finally got his attention.

Mikami Teru looked behind him and saw that the Shinigami Ryuk was there as usual.

He gave a smirk to his companion.

Ryuk returned the same mischievous smile. He remained behind Mikami Teru as the three of them started walking. He towered above the young human and he liked the fact that he did. When he was with Raito before, he remembered he liked being taller. Raito is twisted; he knew that when he first laid eyes on him. He complimented him that he will make a good death god himself but Raito shrugged it off and said arrogantly he doesn't want to be compared to a death god. Ryuk felt, no matter how silly this might sound, that his height is the only thing he has more than Raito. The boy is made up of ugly things.

Mikami Teru is a different story. Generally he is a nice kid but Raito did a good job picking him up as the Fourth Kira. He has that ambition, intelligence, the self-righteousness as a motivation and not to mention the aw-shucks good looks (all qualities found in a Kira candidate except Misa who didn't pass the brain category and Higuchi who is just plain butt-ugly.) Ryuk couldn't help but be amused of this. Mikami is like Raito in many ways but the Shinigami still believed that nobody could be as ruthless as the original Kira. All that matters to these human owners of the death note are their noble goals.

All that matters to Ryuk is he doesn't care at all except of course when he is entertained.

They entered a large gallery. Mikami casually glanced at the people around and wondered if he can pick up his prey's scent. Takada noticed his anxiety as she whispered to his hear, "He is right over there, wearing a dark blue tuxedo."

Mikami finally rested his eyes on him. A second passed and then another one. The two of them walked to the man and they shook hands.

"It is very nice to meet you, Takamoto-san." Mikami smiled politely, addressing him with the name plate pinned on the man's left chest.

"Takada-chan told me a lot about you," Takamoto chuckled, eyeing Takada Kiyomi the way all men eyed her in the room: with lust.

Mikami glanced at the attractive brunette girl on his arm. Takada smiled at him knowingly and Mikami knew he had plans for herself.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mikami-kun," Takamoto added. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

"I sure will," Mikami took a seat beside Takada, facing Takamoto.

"So you're a painter then?" Mikami started the conversation. Takamoto raised his hand to survey across the room. "Well, these are my paintings."

"They are all so lovely, Takamoto-san." Takada put her hands together gleefully but still retained her poised composure. "Might I compliment you with the ones with women on them? I have to meet that model."

She pointed at the portrait behind her. Mikami glanced slightly. He saw a girl with long dark hair covering almost all her face. She was wearing a conventional dark kimono with cherry blossoms embroided on the hem. Something inside Mikami made him feel like he knew who she is. Though he could hardly see her face, he can tell by just one look that she was beautiful.

He looked back at Takamoto. Something changed in his expression. His eyes were also in the portrait. Mikami can't put a name on what he saw there. There was some kind of enigma in Takamoto's eyes, as though the girl in the painting is somebody he adores very much. He could also tell that it wasn't in a romantic way. It's like how you looked at your mother or anybody you think of as a figure of authority or of respect. Mikami decided to cut into Takamoto's thoughts.

"Takamoto-san, I have also noticed that there are many girls in your paintings," he said. He took a swift glance across the room. Ryuk did the same.

"Yes," Takamoto grinned quizzically, "I believe that a woman is the very essence of beauty. All of the models here have different kinds of that beauty. There is something in all of them that is distinct. Something primitive that goes back in the ancient state of nature where everything is just beautiful. I want to paint women without make-up or anything that hinders their perfect beauty. A woman is perfect."

He smiled sweetly at Takada who returned it back. Mikami didn't care if he was flirting but he was genuinely disturbed of what the man's poignant thought is all about. Mikami always trusted his instincts beside his rationality and right now his gut feeling tells him that this Takamoto man has something to hide.

When Takamoto left to get drinks, Mikami turned to Takada and asked, "Why exactly do you think this guy is a criminal?"

"Amane Misa told me about him."

"I thought you hated her?"

Takada exhaled and answered, "He asked Misa if she could model for him and she thought that it might be a splendid idea. But then again, she said she noticed something strange in his work place. She went back there the next day after his proposal and he wasn't there. She kind of sneaked in—" she lowered her voice and brought herself closer to Mikami, "And then she said she noticed that there was another door inside his office. She can tell it wasn't the bathroom because the bathroom is located on the parking lot area. She thought that maybe I could take a look and when she was about to open the door…"

Takamoto returned and handed them their drinks. "Why don't we go outside and take some fresh air? I'd like to speak to the both of you in private."

Mikami nodded as Takada stood and then they followed Takamoto. Ryuk remained with them.

"I have to say I was glad that Takada-chan invited a friend over," Takamoto was saying as he walked ahead of them to open a door.

And then it all happened quickly. Something hard hit Mikami and he was on his knees. Darn it, he should have seen that one coming. But before he lost unconsciousness, he heard Takada screaming. Mikami also recalled that inside the room that Takamoto opened, he saw girls, five of them, all naked and chained to the floor. It was an appalling sight especially when all of them are looking at him with such hollow eyes...

**XXXXXXXXX**

I gasped a little when I pricked my finger on a small torn on the flowers. I sipped the blood oozing from it and sighed to myself. With a little effort and out of boredom, I decided to walk back to the cottage and help my grandmother with the sewing. I thought that it would be far better if I get pricked with a needle doing something important than get pricked by thorns for holding flowers the whole day. While I was looking at the fabrics I will sew and decided what color can be mixed with white, I suddenly felt a cold gush of wind. I knew where it was coming from.

I entered the little shaft where I lock behind a future; a future so petrifying I could hardly believe I was a part of it. I stood around the dark room, gazing calmly at the only light from the biggest corner. Candles are scattered around, hundreds of them, maybe. They burned brightly especially the new ones. But as my eyes move around some more, I noticed the candles that need to be replaced: candles that sealed the future untold.

I walked to the nearest bunch of candles and saw what the cold gush of wind wanted to say to me. Between the sizzling of warmth in this room and the outside sunset, I noticed it greatly. I somehow felt the frigid atmosphere in this room despite the humidity of the candles. It was so cold in here.

I glanced at the candles and there in the middle of five candles was a candle almost liquefying with the wax leaving smooth white traces on the wood beneath it. I found the source of the chill. I have watched this a million times for so many years and yet I could not help but still feel the agony and the guilt. I touched the flame and didn't take my eyes off the name written on the candle. It was unreadable but I can see the face of the man whose name I shall perish from the world. It was too soon for him, however, but fate is fickle.

It's his time.

_Shinobu Takamoto shall ferry to hell..._

But I knew something was not right.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"...and I got to paint them as long and as often as I could…" Takamoto was saying to Mikami but the young man was too drowsy to understand what he was saying.

_The Death Note_! He thought.

And where the hell is Ryuk?

"So if you get my point, Mikami-kun," Takamoto pulled Mikami by the hair. Mikami finally had the chance to open his eyes and looked around him. His heart skipped a beat.

Takamoto whispered on his ear, "If you tell anybody about this, you are dead. And about your girlfriend Kiyomi-chan, you could still visit her although she does owe me a lot of paintings."

Mikami did not hear him. He focused on the five girls he saw earlier. They were still naked and chained like animals. They were trembling. They have bruises all over their bodies. They were begging him somehow with those hollow eyes of theirs. Mikami couldn't turn away. He was overcome by a powerful sensation aside his strong sense of justice. He was enraged.

"There is no use trying to fight it off, Mikami-kun," Takamoto walked over to the girls. By just his presence standing over them, it was enough to give those girls a cold dose of fear. Light was definitely furious now. He can feel that his hands were tied behind his back. But he must get his hands on the notebook.

"Like I said before, women are of perfect beauty," Takamoto grabbed one of the girls and run his tongue on her neck. She sobbed and stifled a cry.

_You fucking bastard_, Mikami thought and thought some more of how many painful ways he could punish the guy. He had to think of each detail so he could write it down as quickly as he could before the six minutes and forty seconds is up.

All he needed was that damn notebook.

He tried to wriggle free as Takamoto laughed at his effort.

"I do not want to hurt you, Mikami-kun so I would really appreciate it if you don't try to fight me off like this. I told you already, you could still see Kiyomi-chan. But we have to keep this dirty little secret all to ourselves."

He took Mikami this time by his shirt and pulled him up to a standing position. "I know that you are a prosecutor. Now if a word gets out about this, I promise you I will make your life a living hell."

Mikami met his eyes. Takamoto saw it. This kid is twisted. Whatever he saw in those eyes he is sure not to forget.

"You're not going to get away with this." Mikami said almost gently as he smirked and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "But if you untie me, we might work something out."

"And why would I trust your word?" Takamoto inquired.

"I might find you some pretty ladies to paint," Mikami grinned fully now, "Say, are you interested in high school girls? Putting myself in your mindset for a while, I think innocence is the most perfect kind of beauty. Some high school girls have it."

Takamoto grinned back at him, "Are you playing with me?"

Mikami didn't bulge. Takamoto can sense that this kid is no fool.

"Untie me and I will give you their names."

Takamoto thought for a moment then he ordered the two guys to release him. When he was free of bounds, Mikami scratched where the ropes left marks on his skin. He then sat himself on one of the high-backed chairs.

"Give me what you have, kid." Takamoto said with a soft voice.

Mikami smiled and produced a notebook from his coat. He opened it and scanned the pages for awhile. He glanced at the clock again and then he started to write.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"There is a fence," Ryuk said aloud after a long hour of silence.

It means he can't get close to them.

Mikami could still use the death note on the Takamoto guy however.

"After all," Ryuk added, still talking to himself. "He will only be finishing what she has started."

**XXXXXXXXX**

At exactly two-thirty in the morning, Shinobu Takamoto's fate has been sealed.

The power of the death note never seizes to amaze Mikami. He didn't expect that it could execute what is written on it as precisely as he had imagined it while he watched those girls. He immediately called the police He made sure that Takada was safe there with him as the cops flooded the area.

Takada slept soundly in his arms. The tranquilizers they've given her didn't wear off yet. She looked so peaceful and he was glad she hasn't suffered too much.

Mikami touched her cheek worriedly and examined her face. Now without anybody watching, especially without Ryuk lurking behind them, Mikami could look at her in a different way without being asked about it. Takada understood him. They believed in one thing and that kept them together. He pulled her into a tight embrace and wished they met under different circumstances. But then again without the death note and the Shinigami, they would have never met in the first place. And he was not in love with her. He was just...thankful that he found somebody who could relate to him in the same level.

Without the death note, Mikami wouldn't have the noble goal in his reach. There would be no Takada. He would also miss that giant Ryuk. And most of all...

"Kira." Mikami murmured against Takada's hair. He had glorified this man who became his god, who watched over him and trusted him with this divine power.

Takada slowly opened her eyes. She was surprised to see Mikami's arms around her. They looked at each other in brief silence. Then Mikami cleared his throat and pushed her away gently in an indifferent stance. Takada did not bother knowing why.

"I eliminated him," Mikami said. "He won't hurt those poor girls again."

"Just think of how cruel he must have been to them," Takada replied pensively, "He must have tortured them for a long time. And the nerve he has to display them like that and call it art. When Misa described to me how he tried to do the same thing to her, she said she was so frightened but she managed to fight him back and told Kira about it. Kira then ordered me to tell you that we should eliminate him."

Mikami blinked at her. Takada Kiyomi is a woman who uses her head but when she does share her feelings about injustice, she attains that certain sweet, effeminate light that draws him.

Mikami moodily shifted his eyes to the cops. They were confiscating Takamoto's paintings as evidence. Two of the cops were carrying the portrait Takada was eager about. It was the girl with the cherry blossoms on her kimono. Come to think of it, the girl who modeled in that painting is not one of the five girls. And he made sure that Takamoto gave his list of the girls he had abducted. The girl in that portrait is not one of them at all. Mikami knew something was bothering him about that girl in the painting. He remembered the look that Takamoto gave when he looked at the portrait. And now Mikami could put a name on it.

Whoever that girl is, Shinobu Takamoto _worshipped_ her.

**XXXXXXXXX**

When Shinobu Takamoto opened his eyes, he knew exactly where he was. He kept his body on its position for a long time. He listened to the water hitting against the boat. He can hear her paddling in the process and he never thought that he will be here soon. He knew it was inevitable.

She spoke to him, "It is time to pay for your sins."

"I dreamed of this day that I could lay my eyes on you," Takamoto sat himself up and started kissing her feet vigorously.

She let him. And then she said, "Did you know how you come to pass?"

He eyed her quizzically, "I really don't know. I can't remember a thing."

"I doubt as much," she answered. She kept paddling, looking straight ahead.

"You're so beautiful."

The Hell Girl finally looked at him. Her languid blood-red eyes sharpened when she replied, "Like those girls you painted."

He didn't take her reaction as a harmful one so he nodded.

"I saw your portrait of me," she said after a long pause. They were getting close to the destination.

"And did it please you?"

"Not entirely," she responded lazily. "I am also not pleased with the circle."

"So you know about that," Takamoto chuckled. "You deserve to be exalted!"

"Be still," she stopped paddling. "You are now here."

"You mean—" he tried to catch his breath and make his heart stop beating wildly.

She got down the boat and offered a hand to him.

"Come now," she implored softly, "You're coming with me. I'm taking you to hell."

**XXXXXXXXX**

_Raito..._

He heard her voice but he didn't know her. And yet he wanted to know why she called to him like that. It's as if they both wished to be able to face each other. He knew he shouldn't entertain her. Something primitive like fear took over him. He wasn't easily scared. He was no wimp. But the calm cadence of her voice made him shiver. He knew he wouldn't be able to ignore her anymore. She was so soothing and so melodic like one of those lullabies he often thought was never sung.

Raito… 

He opened his eyes and saw only darkness.

_Raito..._

"Who are you?"

He could swear he smelled a scent of ripe fruits. He wondered if it came from her.

_Raito…_

_You and I will see each other soon._

_Raito..._

_Just keep thinking about the scent. When you smell that scent again, I am near you._

_I am always near you._

Raito woke up to find himself angry, angry out of frustration because he wanted to know who that girl is and why she knew him somehow from inside and out.

**XXXXXXXXX**

I missed the days with her.

I missed every single event in our lives, even the bad ones that rarely come. But to avoid reality is to lie to yourself. Well, boredom is a prisoner's biggest enemy. And so with a heavy conscience (though I perceive the question of one's moral values should be ignored) I practiced such form of whim: avoiding reality, that is.

Today is my mother's birthday. It is one reality I couldn't escape.

Almost two weeks ago I was called to testify before the purgatory guardians. I was scolded lightly about the proceeding turn of events concerning my servant Ren and the fifty-year old woman who was my customer years ago. It was her time to go and rumor has it (I say this because it doesn't have a sufficient evidence) that Ren gave the fifty-year old an ointment that will delay her death. I was shocked by the accusation for I know Ren and I know he would not **dare** defy the authority of the guardians. I tried to console and make a bargain with them and they laughed dryly.

"Ai," they said to me. "You are becoming a frustration."

_I? A frustration? A humble servant of four hundred years of age?_

I wanted to scream. I was never overcome by such a terrible impulse to get angry and get even. I hid it successfully in my impassive mask as always. I bowed my head down and asked permission to speak to Ren about the matter before they take him in for brutal interrogation.

I didn't waste a second and went straight to see him. He didn't avoid the questions I put him through. He knew it was procedure. He smiled once in awhile when I told him I want to make sure he is cared for as if he disbelieved me. I did not question why he did. I turned my back away from him and just as I was about to do that, he grabbed me gently by the shoulders to look at him.

And there it was.

"Ai," he called me by my name, a gesture I have forbidden when I employed him."Is extracting your own revenge in exchange of being the Jigoku Shoujo worth it?"

A stupid question. He knew the answer. He watched my reaction of slight infuriation.

"I had not known the consequence of my action," I turned away from his eyes. "I warn the people of their penalty when they wanted vengeance to be delivered and yet they chose to quench it. It is not my desire, Ren. They were the ones who sold their souls."

I told him other things about death and vengeance and how he seemed not to be paying attention. I didn't know how else I could get through him.

Today is my mother's birthday. Is celebrating it when you feel too exhausted worth the trouble when it would not make the smallest difference? I wanted to protect my mother before from the people who recklessly shamed her. And now I want to protect Ren. I want to protect him so much.

Wanyuundo walked towards my direction. I didn't look up as he spoke to me for I was busy sewing garments.

"Okami-sama," he said. "You asked to arrange you a ferry to the other side, did you not? Well, all is arranged now. Do you wish to go?"

"Not yet," I continued sewing and then stopped abruptly. "What goes with white?"

"Black, Okami-sama." Wanyuundo replied.

"I need something more noticeable," I remarked silently. When my eyes caught the fabric, I pulled it and placed it on top of the white garment.

"Does the color combination please you now?" he asked me.

"Yes," I could not help but give a small smile. "Red is perfect."

I looked at him in a pensive gesture. "Let me finish with this. As soon as I have done my chore, I shall go to visit my old friend."

Wanyuundo nodded.

I got back to what I was doing. I measured and cut the red fabric meticulously. And then I started sewing again.

"Do you think he will like this?" I asked Wanyuundo.

"You Shinigami friend?" Wanyuundo implied.

I shook my head wearily. "No, Wanyuundo."

He stayed silent for a moment when he understood who I was referring to.

"Red is his color," he finally answered. "Red announces power and territory. And a passionate and ambitious young man like him would love red, Okami-sama."

I appreciated that remark. I rest my fingers for a while and stared at the opposite wall. I glanced at the computer, waiting for any signal. When none came, I resumed sewing.

"Wanyuundo," I said, frowning when I realized what's been missing in my property.

"Yes, miss?"

"Do you know where Ryuuzaki left the plate he has borrowed from me?"


	4. Pedantic Centuries

**----000----------------------------------------------------000----**

**4**:** Pedantic Centuries **

**----000----------------------------------------------------000----**

Otaru felt exhausted the minute he opened his eyes after a terrible sleepless night. It was a school day, the worst day of them all. He yawned four times during that morning as he ate his bread with peanut butter and then as he was taking a bath. The third yawn is while he was entering the school gate. And the last one was when he decided not to go to school after all so he sat on a vacant bench in the park. To his astonishment, somebody jumped on his back.

"Piggy ride!" he recognized the whiny voice.

"Misa-chan, don't do that again." Otaru could only heave a sigh. Misa fixed herself up and sat beside him, giving him the happy smile.

Otaru smiled back but not with the same amount of blissful ignorance. Misa noticed this and then she did her best to cheer him up. She talked to him about her shoe shopping with Raito, Raito this, Raito that…

Otaru could not stifle a fifth yawn.

"Something is bothering Otaru-kun." Misa finally got a clue. "Your uncle is still missing, isn't he? Does Otaru-kun want to call the cops?"

"You don't have to worry about my uncle," he cut off. "I knew that wherever he is now, he is okay."

That was a sarcastic remark though Misa would never find out.

"Is Otaru-kun sure about that?" Misa pouted. "Does Otaru-kun want to go some place?"

Otaru shook his head and offered a tight smile. "I have to go to this meeting with some friends, you know."

"Can Misa come with?"

"No," Otaru answered. "I will be with Yamanagi-san."

"Oh, poor Akira-kun!" she wailed. Several people looked at them. "Misa heard about his wife and daughter. That was so tragic."

Otaru averted his gaze. "Yeah, sometimes I wish I knew what really happened to Kasumi. She and I went to kindergarten together."

"It was awful how she ended up like that," Misa put her face above her hands and doggy-pouted again. "You can never tell when a tragedy is possible. But you always know that it would be the good ones who get it. It's the reality."

Then with a sly smile she added, "Well, it's only a tragedy when it happens to a good person. But if bad people get it, Misa calls it payment."

Otaru wanted to change the topic. "Hey, do you wanna go buy some ice cream?"

Misa brightened up when she was brought back to her world of puppies and rainbows. They walked to the ice cream store.

"Otaru-kun," Misa said, "How are things with your girlfriend? Misa never got her name."

"We broke up."

"Misa's so sorry."

"I'm not."

Misa sighed and watched Otaru for a moment. She was about to say something when her cell phone vibrated in her purse.

"Raito!" she giggled as she answered the call. "Where are you? Me? Misa is with a friend..." then she drifted to her usual blabbering. Otaru did not listen anymore.

When she turned around, she forgot that she was holding an ice cream and accidentally shoved it at Otaru's shirt.

"Oh my!" Misa gasped and tried to wipe the stain off.

"It's nothing, Misa-chan." Otaru tried to stop her from touching his chest. He blushed vibrantly when she kept rubbing. "I said it's okay, Amane-san!"

"Oh! Misa has an extra shirt here." She opened the paper bag she was carrying. "It's for Raito but Misa guessed he wouldn't like it. Misa was on her way to return in but Otaru-kun need a shirt now!"

She literally dragged him behind the ice cream store and Otaru had to avoid the people giving them looks on the way. When they were safely away from the public, Misa quickly unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.

"Misa-chan, stop!"

"Don't be such a baby, Otaru-kun!" she giggled. "Misa has seen a lot of guys naked before. And you're like a little brother to Misa."

She was preparing to put on the shirt when she suddenly stopped. Otaru saw her staring at the mark on his chest.

"It's a tattoo," he said, suddenly feeling defensive. "I got it at a friend's party. You know, just for kicks."

"Misa swears she saw that design before." Misa frowned a little. Then she beamed gleefully again. "Anyway, must be a coincidence. Here, put this on, baby brother!"

She helped him put on the shirt and then she tickled him. Otaru got away from her and they chased each other around the park.

"Oh! Misa has to still have to buy Raito a new shirt!" Misa remembered as she stopped running and tried to catch her breath.

"And I still have to go to that meeting," Otaru waved a hand. "I guess I will see you again some other time, Misa-chan."

"Sayonara, Otaru-kun!" she waved back and watched him leave, with his hands on his pocket trousers.

Misa couldn't help but feel disturbed with what she saw. She needed answers fast. Misa contemplated about that tattoo on Otaru's chest. She might be wrong but she can distinctly remember where she saw that. She remembered that Shinobu Takamoto was trying to drug her when she came to his work place a week ago for a modeling offer. There was a short struggle but Misa managed to rip off his shirt. As he was preparing to inject her with the medicine, she saw the same mark on his chest.

When she narrowly escaped, she told Raito about it who promised to tell Mikami to get rid of him. Then she kept thinking about the weird shape of that tattoo.

It has to be a coincidence. Otaru can't be associated with the same man who abused girls for fun. Maybe it's a new trend in the tattoo world now and it was a coincidence they shared the same tattoo.

Misa knew it was a coincidence. And she prayed desperately that it was.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Forgive me, Lord for I have sinned. Do you remember me? It is I. I who held a four hundred-year-old grudge, I who suffered the perdition of the heavy weight of my sin. I am Enma Ai. I am calling You after centuries of placidity. Please answer me this time."

_Go and do not sin again._

"But my Lord, if I am forgiven, is this not a sin, these activities of mine that is concerned in putting demented souls in a place of torment now that you might set them free--"

_--if they will come forward and seek forgiveness._

"I still do not understand Your Holiness."

_Child, is it true that before you place the bid over their works of evil that you ask them to turn away from it and ask forgiveness?_

"'Tis true, my Lord."

_And they rarely do ask for reconciliation._

"For they are cowards, my Lord! They fear you and they refuse to understand. My own problem at hand is not of their own. But it is the cleansing of my conscience. I do not question the punishment. I have accepted it fully but my God, please do not forsake me this time! Allow me to enter the kingdom and experience paradise. Oh my God, can you not hear the silent breaking of my heart? I have wept for years to no definite avail. My God, please."

_Enma Ai, child, you have recognized your sin and is forgiven for that sin. But your service is not yet over. You shall continue to practice your occupation at hand, sending sinners to perdition if they refuse to renew the covenant._

But, my Lord!

_Listen, child! It took you four centuries to come clean. You even try to execute the final steps of your own vengeance. Your disobedience is upsetting child._

"Go away! You are not my Lord! You are a demon disguised as my own despair! Leave me now and do not come back. How dare you deceive me in my time of wretchedness?"

_But how do you know what I am?_

"God forgives. He sweetens the spring of bodies who comes to Him and He hasn't spoken to me since what happened.

_Then foolish girl, why do you seek him again?_

"I shall not answer that. I shall not speak to you about this again. I know that you are a test and a test I shall pass. But now leave me be!"

_You are a prisoner, Enma Ai. Do not desire for freedom for that is a thirst you will never get to quench._

Alas the demon servant vanished before me. I sat down in the rocking boat and had not thought of anything else. The visions of silhouettes filled my mind. The pink flowers and the dreadful mist have laid themselves above me like a droopy iron curtain. Time is no longer of significant value but if I am still in eternal damnation then how come my heart still wishes to defy?

"Ai," it was the voice of the guardian, urging me return to my cottage. I took the paddle from the corner and slowly rode the boat across the vast lake. I could neither reach heaven or hell but my state of mind does not and wouldn't give a damn anymore.

"Ai," the guardian continued to call my name in the depths.

"Yes, yes, I am yet again summoned." I hurried towards the cottage to meet my latest customer. After the bargain and emotionless monologue, I finally retired and returned to my abode. I lazily laid down my head on the soft pillow my grandmother has provided me. I wanted to dream about flowers. But it might have been because flowers are all I see outside.

I closed my eyes and drifted into a fake sleep, waiting for the blinking of my computer monitor to order me to take and deliver the vengeance paid.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Otaru found the waiting area Akira has instructed him to stay for awhile. He was stunned to see Sayuri already there. She wore a bright yellow sweater and a leather skirt. She was leaning on the wall, looking across somewhere not specific. She continued blowing smoke from her lighted cigarette. Otaru approached her silently.

Sayuri didn't seem to give a reaction that she knew he was present. He sat down on the floor and sighed heavily. When he did, Sayuri said. "You wanna hear something really sad?"

Otaru looked at her; bewildered that she would ask that. "Is it important to know sad things?"

"It benefits you, actually." Sayuri remarked. "But most of us prefer the happy endings and the best times of our lives. We received a blessing though. From this day on, we have a world of our own. We're bound to be damned when we die anyway so let me ask again, do you want to hear something really sad?"

"Whatever."

She crushed her cigarette with her shoe. "I, Sayuri Masato, summoned the Hell Girl to take revenge against my only daughter Sakura."

Otaru stared and found out that he couldn't comment.

Sayuri looked off in a distance and begun to narrate her story, "My daughter is fifteen, a year younger than our Midori. She and I always got along. We do what mothers and daughters do so I won't bore you with those details. My relationship with her changed when she met Kouji Sautome."

Otaru froze at the name. Sayuri glanced at him with a small smile. "Yes, it was the same man who raped Kasumi."

"Go on," Otaru implied.

"I knew that this is the phase teenage girls have to go through and there is no room for mistakes especially if you are a mother. I knew that Sautome kid was a problem the moment my daughter invited him to come over for dinner."

Sayuri got tired of leaning against the wall and decided to sit beside Otaru instead. She continued her story; "Sautome influenced Sakura with bad things, things that pollute a teenage girl's mind. Sakura was raised right. But Sautome changed all of that in just two days of getting along with her. Sakura took off with him without telling me and I was worried sick and wanted to know if she is not harmed. And she wasn't. She got back home without a scratch. I told her not to see Sautome again. She shouted at me and told me I was a horrible mother and then she went upstairs and locked her room. I have no idea what to do with her so I decided to go to Sautome and asked him to stay away from my daughter. Akira-kun got there first and the old man was beating the shit out of Sautome."

Otaru nodded. "He has every right to."

Sayuri laughed a little then took her lighter. She played with it as she spoke, "Akira-kun told me what happened. Sakura and Kasumi were classmates so they know each other well. I asked Akira-kun how he could be so sure it was Sautome and three other guys who did that to Kasumi and he said that Sautome admitted. And then Akira-kun pulled me close to him and said that Sautome also confessed that my daughter was there the night it happened and that..."

"What?" Otaru looked at her worriedly. "What happened next?"

Sayuri met Otaru's gaze. "Akira-kun said that Sautome told him that Sakura was the one who urged him and his friends to scare Kasumi."

Otaru could not believe his ears. "You don't think she would do that, right?"

"Of course not, she is my daughter!" Sayuri smiled. "But just in case, I was told by Akira-kun about this website he heard can send people to hell. I looked for it myself and didn't find it. I decided not to rush on things so I confronted my daughter about it. And I was in for a shock."

Otaru said nothing. He watched as Sayuri lit another cigarette. She blew the smoke and then she said, "Sakura said she only wanted to joke around with Kasumi. But Kasumi was really scared so she told Sakura to get lost. My daughter was offended so she told the guys to hit Kasumi a little. When they did Kasumi started screaming so they have to shut her up. Sautome, that piece of garbage, started...hurting Kasumi and the other three helped him. Sakura just stood there and watched."

"No," Otaru responded weakly.

"I asked her why she let it happen and she said that maybe because she is afraid that they might hurt her too if she tried to interfere. And then she started to laugh and said, 'on the second thought I think Kasumi deserved it.' I was horrified of what she said and demanded her why she thought that way and Sakura said...just because."

"Just because?" Otaru asked.

"Just like that," Sayuri shrugged her shoulders. "Such a simple answer for letting somebody do violence to somebody. What made me realize that this person is no longer my daughter is when I saw how Mizuki suffered when Kasumi died. She was a mother like me and she was suffering in pain. Her daughter was a good girl and she doesn't deserve to have daughter taken away."

"Sayuri-san," Otaru wanted to ask her to stop because it was too much to bear.

"I couldn't let a mother suffer like that," she pressed on. "And my daughter will make other mothers suffer again because she was an evil spoiled brat. I know she was no longer the daughter I loved. Sakura is just not Sakura. She's the embodiment of evil. And when Akira-kun said that the website does exist, I looked for it and met with Enma Ai."

Otaru felt his chest hurt but he managed to listen to every word.

She went on, not minding his condition, "I didn't have doubts as I pulled the string. I did it in front of her and told her that I love her and that this for the best. I also said that someday I would come back for her there in Hell just to see how she's holding up. You know, Otaru-kun, I regretted what I did to my daughter but she had it coming. She made the wrong choice. She was an accomplice to a brutal crime and she sadistically participated in it. As her mother I have to be the responsible adult so I have to make sure she realized she is wrong and that she has to learn a lesson."

Otaru nodded again. "It must have been hard."

"Kids today take their mothers for granted," Sayuri smiled sadly. "They just don't realize how ruthless we can be when it comes to our children. Better for us to be the one to punish them than let others condemn them."

Otaru opened his mouth to say something but felt lost of words. Sayuri laughed again but there was no humor to it. "You have to understand, a girl whose idea of fun and joking around is to watch her friend get raped is not something my daughter will do. So I sent that bitch inside my daughter's body to hell. I know Sakura is no longer there and that she is dead."

She stood up and offered a hand to help Otaru up.

"I told you it was a sad story," she remarked then she glanced at her watch.

"I think Akira-kun and the others will be arriving anytime now. Now, would you be a dear and help me with these cupcakes I made for us?"

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Misa doesn't understand!" Misa whined over and over again.

"I told you he had errands to attend to!" Matsuda explained over and over again.

"Raito would not leave Misa like that!" Misa pouted.

Matsuda sought out some assistance from Mogi and Aizawa who just shook their heads.

"I don't think that is impossible." Raito replied languidly when he appeared from the door. He was so absorbed about a lot of things for the past few days.

"Raito!" Misa immediately jumped at him. "Did you miss Misa?"

Raito thought for a long moment about that. And he took his time pondering about it too.

"Raito-kun," Matsuda said. "You have a message from N."

Raito eyed the monitor on his left. The letter that is beginning to haunt him popped out. A voice spoke.

"L, I think you should see this."

**XXXXXXXXX**

Akira Yamanagi delivered the news solemnly. There were ten of them now gathered in the room. The circle is expanding and pulling in more pledges and Akira was pleased that they were all willing especially Otaru. But the meeting was now about Shinobu Takamoto, one of the first pledges of the circle who died a week ago. The details of his death were shady and Akira knew there must be something more to it. As he took another bite from Sayuri's cupcake, he tried forming theories that can fit it. He can't find anything useful at the moment.

Otaru, on the other hand, was quiet. He hasn't spoken to anyone in the room, not even when Midori tried to engage him into a conversation. Sayuri was in the corner, eyeing the cupcakes she made by every crumb and not really listening. Ranmaru was talking to the others about Takamoto.

"What kind of theory is that?" Ranmaru responded to Subaki Hanagaza.

Subaki Hanagaza who works for a pharmaceutical company and Mizuki's attending doctor the night she died, looked at Ranmaru for a moment before he laughed loud and tossed his necktie on the table in front of them.

"It does make perfect sense," Subaki countered on. "Isn't it suspicious that Takamoto died like that, three nights after sealing his deal with the Hell Girl?"

"They couldn't possibly know that there is an organization of advocates like us?" sixteen-year-old Ayaki Tomomi joined in. "I mean they couldn't have known that the tattoo has something to do with a website that sends people to hell."

"Yeah, I know." Subaki answered. "But I have a friend in the police department and he said that when they found Takamoto's corpse the tattoo on his chest caught the attention of a certain detective. Now they think it's Kira's signature."

"My," Sayuri finally said something. "They think that Kira killed him?"

"We all know his activities," Makoto Takano, a plumber and a young father remarked. "Shinobu is no saint. When I heard about what he does to those girls, I was immediately repulsed and I know he deserved what happened to him."

"It was horrible!" Midori agreed. "I mean, okay, he is part of the circle but I know that guy is serious trouble. He might be a victim in his own way but he is a criminal by heart."

"Aren't we all criminals?" Tenchi Shinoda called out from the corner where he sat, looking at the cracks in the wall.

"We are not talking about you again," Makoto waved his hands in the air. "Especially in the time of crisis like this."

"But think about it!" Tenchi pushed on but Makoto ignored him.

"Why would the police think Kira did it?" Ranmaru asked softly, almost to himself.

Ayaki smiled and replied. "Kira is popping out criminals. That's what he is known for. Kira is just one of those guys."

"I know Kira will kill again." Tenchi began pacing around the room.

"It won't happen again." Shiori Nanase laughed. "I mean, come on, what are the odds that Kira would kill another one of us?"

"I'm a convicted felon for manslaughter." Tenchi answered her. "Doesn't that give you proof enough?"

"So you think he will come after you?" Shiori laughed again. "Man, you can't be serious. Shinobu is a creep and maybe even before Kira has his name on his list, I don't know."

"So you think this is a coincidence?" Tenchi remarked. Shiori waved him off.

"Seriously, let us not make a big deal out of this," Subaki shook his head irritatingly.

"But why give the credit to Kira?" Makoto added. "Including the tattoo? Don't we want them to learn that we exist?"

"We don't exist to be popular, Takano," Subaki countered on. "We are grieving for our loss. We don't campaign anything."

"Subaki is right."

They all turned to Akira.

"Let us see this as a blessing," Akira reminded them with a tight fatherly smile. "Let us comfort ourselves with the fact that the police are following the wrong scent. We can't have them snooping around. We have lives to attend to."

He walked to the nearest window and pondered on it. "We have lives, whatever is left to it at least."

Nobody spoke except Otaru who stood up to meet Akira's unwavering gaze.

"I will find more of us," he said firmly. "There are more of us out there who paid the vengeance and we must get them in the circle."

"Otaru-kun, you can be so blissfully passionate," Midori beamed at him.

Sayuri gave a puzzling smile behind Midori and took a bite from the cupcake.

Akira put a hand on Otaru's shoulder. "Yes, my boy, I know you would."

**XXXXXXXXX**

Rem sat in one of the steep boulders among the vast of mountains. She couldn't remember the last time she was here. It was one of the rarest kind gestures that Ryuk did for her. He must have sensed that she needed this chance more than he did. Rem sat there, waiting for a way to grab her chance. She has plenty of time after her physical death. Shinigamis don't die permanently after all. But they do get placed in another world.

"Excuse me?"

Rem didn't turn around.

"I was looking for a friend and they pointed me at this direction. Clearly you are not the one I wanted to see."

"Are you the Hell Girl?"

Rem finally turned to take a closer look at her. She was surprisingly young. Well, that's what you get for living in the lull: immortality and youth mixed with a bitter restitution. She was young but a Shinigami can look through the façade and Rem could see that the girl was centuries old and tired.

"You must know Ryuk-san then." The girl implored. She wore a dark kimono with cherry blossoms embroided in the hem.

"I want to talk to you," Rem began. "I hope you didn't mind that I asked for Ryuk to change schedule."

"It was short notice but I can adapt easy to changes," she walked to Rem and looked at her in the eye.

"Sit down, Ai-san," Rem said gently. The girl obeyed.

"Are you aware of what is going on in your territory?" Rem decided to ask without wasting time.

"Yes," Enma Ai answered. "I see a lot of death marches during this time."

"You mean, during this year."

Rem could see a little frown on the girl's face when she nodded.

"It was Ryuk who started it," Rem smiled this time. "If he wasn't so bored then nothing could have been imbalanced now."

"Nothing is imbalance," Enma Ai replied. "Death Notes are necessities."

"I know you don't have a problem with shinigamis using death notes," Rem responded. "It has been going around in ages even right before you started your service. But it has to piss you off somehow."

Enma Ai looked at her languidly with those blood red eyes. "You think that I am provoked that a human is using the death note?"

Rem did not say anything.

"Death marches upset you." Rem implied. "I can see that, Ai-san."

"Do you know that we all have a price to pay?" Enma Ai countered.

"I agree." Rem looked off. "When a Shinigami dies, it goes nowhere but back here in the lull."

Enma Ai smoothen the cloth of her kimono and stared down at her lap as she went on. "A human is using the death note for self-interest. There is no law against that. But as soon as he dies, he stays in the lull."

She looked up at Rem and asked. "Does that circumstance sound familiar to you?"

Rem shook her head slowly.

"My point is that I used a death note in a way," Enma Ai explained. "I did not get it from any Shinigami. But I used a death note to burn a village years ago. I paid an expensive retribution and for that I was damned."

"And this is your punishment." Rem nodded to see that she was following the conversation well. "I supposed it wouldn't be much a problem but since a customer of yours who will go to hell when he dies...died soon in the hands of the human using a death note…"

"And then the world became smaller," Enma Ai smiled weakly and looked down at her hands. "It is a coincidence no matter how you look at it."

Enma Ai looked up at the gray sky and sighed. "It's irresistible, the offer of revenge. The human using the death note might have not denied that it was irresistible. The offer is always appealing. Revenge or death note, something is to be paid."

"So with you and Kira?"

"We have different roles," Enma Ai replied. "We represent different realities. And what happened with Shinobu Takamoto-san is a coincidence."

"Yeah, I guess it will only happen once." Rem agreed.

"But it won't."

The whole place stood still. Rem gave Enma Ai a questioning glance.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard about the circle?"

"Huh?"

Enma Ai shook her head. "Never mind."

She was about to stand up when Rem asked suddenly, "What do you mean that it will not happen once? Do you mean to say Kira would kill one of your clients again? I thought your clients are victims of crimes not criminals?"

"I don't choose a customer, they choose me." Enma Ai was about to walk away but Rem followed behind her.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I will take the soul of the one who paid the cost and perish him or her to hell," Enma Ai responded. "I really do not have a problem with Yagami-kun. But the death marches are getting frequent. And you are right when you said I was uncomfortable about it."

"So that's just it?" Rem was perplexed.

Enma Ai stopped from walking and faced her. Her blood red eyes were steady and her lips forming in a small smile.

"He would have to pay a price in the future," she whispered. "And I have a good feeling he will be pleased to live in the lull with me."

Rem found that statement weird. Before she could open her mouth, Enma Ai added coldly, "After all, he had paid for that particular ending."

"What?"

Enma Ai said no more as she disappeared in the green smog.


End file.
